"Yahhhhh!" shouted Alice at the top of her voice, kicking the door wide open and charging inside with another blood-curdling yell. "Come out, you bastard. Come out and face me!"
Once Harriet's heart started beating again, she ran in after the teenager. The kitchen was empty, and as she ran towards the bedrooms she noticed cupboards and drawers sitting open. Alice was ahead of her, and after checking one room she darted past into the other. Then they checked the bathroom, but that was empty too.
"Well, he's not here," declared Alice.
"He probably jumped out the window when you started yelling."
Alice looked hopeful. "Do you think so?"
"No, of course not. He's long gone."
"Smith, you mean?"
"Who else could it be?" muttered Harriet. "I don't think Bernie's thought of sending burglars to turn my flat over … not yet, at least, but you know what her twisted training missions are like." She locked the front door, but it seemed inadequate. What if Smith came back later, when they were both asleep? "We can't stay here," she said suddenly.
"Can we go to a hotel?"
"Sure, if you pay for it."
Alice shrugged. "We could sleep rough. Wouldn't be the first time."
"No thanks." Harriet thought for a moment. "We could sleep at the office. Nobody would trouble us there, not with Bernie around."
"Bernie would trouble me," said Alice. "She'll be after me for that damned essay."
"More like that borrowed uniform, and the call-out you decided to handle."
"Look, we don't have to hide." Alice gestured with the bat. "We'll jam some furniture against the front door, and if he tries to break in I'll knock him into the middle of next week." She could see Harriet considering it. "If we leave now, he might confront us in the hall, or just outside in the street. We're better off here, trust me."
"I wish I knew what he was after," said Harriet. "I mean, why search the apartment? What was he looking for?"
"Maybe he knows we share this place. He might have been looking for a recent photo of me, or something with my real name on."
"Anything like that in your room?"
"As if. I move around too much to keep stuff."
"All right, the kitchen table weighs a ton. We'll shove that against the front door and stack some glasses on top. If he moves it, they'll fall over and wake us up."
Alice made a face. "You think I'm going to sleep after hearing he's been here?"
"There's always the office."
"Thanks. I'll pass."
They moved the table and Harriet stacked several glasses on top, making an unstable structure which would fall over if anyone so much as breathed on it. She just hoped the neighbours didn't play any loud music, or the whole lot would come down. As it was, she knew she'd lie awake half the night waiting for the crash.
After dinner she slipped a carving knife from the cutlery drawer and put it under her pillow. Then she realised she might slice her own ear off in the night, and moved it to the bedside cabinet instead.
That was as much as she could do, and she settled down with Alice to watch a movie.
"Did you have to choose horror?" was her only comment, as the end credits rolled.
After that she said good-night and turned in. As she lay there the darkness, with the actors' screams still ringing in her ears, she wondered whether she'd make it to the morning. And whether Bernie would let her carry the station's only gun.
Chapter 4
Alice woke early, and her fears of the night before seemed ridiculous with the morning sun streaming into her room. She got up quickly, dressed in her running gear, and made her way to the front door. Then she saw the kitchen table with its leaning tower of glassware, and her lips thinned. She wanted her morning run before work, and Harriet would be asleep for at least another hour yet. So, she moved the glasses and struggled with the heavy table until she judged there was enough clearance to open the front door.
Alice couldn't put the glasses back, of course, but Smith hadn't bothered them in the night, and she doubted he'd be back in the cold light of day.
After a moment's hesitation, she slid under the table, opened the door and left the apartment. Once outside, she ran down the broad street towards the park, passing several other apartment buildings on the way. It wasn't a wealthy area, but there were still robots around doing maintenance on the buildings and gardens, and a large team of construction bots was repairing a section of road where tree roots had cracked the surface.
She wrinkled her nose at the smell of hot tarmac, and took a couple of extra-deep breaths to clear her lungs once she was past the roadworks.
Alice ran without effort, loping along easily. There wasn't much traffic around, and she didn't see another human all the way to the park. The few shops she passed were all closed.
At the park she ran through the big gates and followed her usual path towards the small lake. The bushes were neatly trimmed, and there were many wooden benches and trees with memorial plaques. On Dismolle, a renowned retirement planet, there were memorial plaques everywhere. Alice's expression tightened as she ran past the trees and benches. Her uncle didn't have a plaque anywhere.
A few minutes later she reached the lake, and she began her first lap. It was a favourite run of hers, and she didn't hold back, belting round the neatly-tended path until her breath came in ragged gasps. The lake was hemmed in by bushes, which deadened the sound of her footsteps, and it was like running in a natural stadium.
After running at a slower pace for a minute or two, Alice took a seat on a bench. As
